🔼The name Mattan: Summary
- Meaning
- Gift
- Etymology
- From the noun מתן (mattan), gift, from the verb נתן (natan), to give.
🔼The name Mattan in the Bible
There are two men named Mattan in the Bible:
- A Baal priest who was killed in his temple by an angry mob, led by the Yahwist high priest Jehoiada who just prior to that had crowned young Joash and killed Athaliah, the murderous mother of Ahaziah (2 Kings 11:18 and 2 Chronicles 23:17).
- The father of Shephatiah, who with a few others listened to Jeremiah's words of doom and decided that the best course of action was to imprison the prophet (Jeremiah 38:1).
The Greek name Ματθαν (Matthan) is a transliteration of the Hebrew name Mattan. Mattan is also the pre-exilic name of the third month of the Hebrew Calendar.
🔼Etymology of the name Mattan
The name Mattan is the same as the word מתן (mattan), meaning gift:
נתן
The shape-shifting verb נתן (natan) means to give in a broad bouquet of senses, from regular giving or bestowing, to setting or putting, to transforming one thing or situation into another.
This verb's three nouns מתן (mattan), מתנה (mattana) and מתת (mattat) all mean gift, again broadly ranging from a regular present to an offering to an innate talent (being "gifted").
🔼Mattan meaning
For a meaning of the name Mattan, NOBSE Study Bible Name List and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names both read Gift. BDB Theological Dictionary doesn't translate this name but does confirm that it is identical to the noun מתן (mattan), meaning gift.